Park is in the market for creating Korea’s superstars of the future

KOREAN media mogul J Y Park, president of JYP Entertainment, pop star, composer, choreographer and teacher, laid out his own successful formula for creating global superstars for the future in a MidemNet conversation with Paul Brindley, managing director of Music Ally UK.

“We don’t make music, we make stars,” said Park, who created megastars Rain and WonderGirls. He added that Korea’s high broadband penetration forced him to change his business strategy. Korea as a territory has lost 90% of the physical CD market.

Park said he’d be surprised if any of the physical CD market survived for another five years. “It’s too inconvenient. Everything is moving toward the consumer and they don’t want to be forced to buy 12 songs. It’s uncomfortable.”

Park’s own JYP Academy in Seoul, Beijing, and New York has some 100 students, all handpicked for the potential to become global stars. Rain trained for some four years and Wonder- Girls for seven years. Both are not only successful on the concert circuit — Rain has moved into TV and WonderGirls are on the brink of doing the same.

Park added all his students must be willing to undergo rigorous training, including two languages, singing, dancing and acting. “They also have to have self-discipline,” he said. “When my biggest revenue comes from endorsement, I can’t afford for my main star to have a drink problem.”

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James Martin is Head of Social Media for Midem organisers Reed MIDEM. This includes defining and rolling out Midem's social media strategy, editing midemblog, influencer outreach, developing Midem's fanbase of 75,000+ music professionals and more.

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